Die locking mechanism



June 9, 1942. R. G. RAHE DIE LOCKING MECHANISM Filed May 9, 1941 V r I 4 19 4 INVENTOR.

Patented June 9, 1942 DIE LOCKING MECHANISM Raymond G. Rahe, Brentwood, Pa., assignor to Jas. H. Matthews & Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application May 9, 1941, Serial No. 392,720

2 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in die holders, more particularly on the means for locking a plurality of interchangeable marking dies in the holder.

It is among the objects of the invention to improve the locking bolt that operates the locking finger of a die holder such as is disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 1,503,842, granted August 5, 1924.

The invention will become more apparent from a consideration of the accompanying drawing constituting a part hereof in which like reference characters designate like parts and in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of a die holder and marking dies assembled therein;

Fig. 2 a side elevational view partially in crosssection;

Fig. 3 a vertical section of the die holder with the locking mechanism in elevation; and

Fig. 4 a side elevation partially in cross-section of the holder and locking mechanism.

With reference to the several figures of the drawing, the structure therein illustrated comprises a holder I shaped to be conveniently gripped by the hand, having a somewhat rounded top end 2 for receiving hammer blows. The bottom central portion of the holder I is slotted, as shown at 3, Figs. 3 and 4, the slot extending vertically and being of a width of the dies 4 that are assembled therein. The length of the slot 3 is such as to accommodate a plurality of dies which may be letters or numbers for marking steel products or the like. The holder I is provided with a transverse slot 5 about midway of the vertical distance of slot 3 for receiving the end 6 of a spring finger or strap 1 that is secured by a bolt generally designated by the reference numeral 8, the end of the finger 6 being curved as shown at 9.

The structure so far described is disclosed in the prior art patent herein referred to. The novel fastening means of the present invention will now be described. The die holder is provided with a transverse opening I0 having a counterbore II at one side and a threaded counterbore [2 on the other side. The bolt 8 extends through an opening in the spring strap I and is provided with a shoulder I3 that is movable in the counterbore II. The shoulder I3 constitutes an abutment for the strap 1 which is held against the shoulder I3 by the nut I4 50 that upon axial movement of the bolt 8 in the opening of the holder, the spring strap I will be bodily moved in and out of the slot 5.

Disposed within the threaded opening I2 is a coil spring I5 abutting the holder at one end and a collar I6 which is threaded to the bolt 8 at the other end. The coil spring and collar I6 are disposed within a counterbore I! of a ring nut I8 having an exterior thread engaging the thread I2 of the holder.

The ring nut I8 is counterbored at I9 to be freely slidable around a nut 20 that is secured at one end of the bolt 8. As shown in Fig, 2,

the dies 4 are provided with notches 4a to be engaged by the finger 6 of the spring strap I. The operation of the locking mechanism will now be described.

As shown in Fig. 3 the ring nut I8 has been turned counter-clockwise to release the bolt 8 which by action of the coil spring I5 assumes a neutral position in which position the finger 6 extends into the vertical slot 3 that engages the notches 4a of the dies.

By continuing to turn the ring nut l8 counter-clockwise, the bolt becomes looked, as does the spring finger 6. By turning the ring nut III in a clockwise direction, the bolt 8 is displaced as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawing to clear the spring finger 6 from the slot 3 to permit removal of the die.

By means of the positive unlocking and looking mechanism, the spring strap I can be moved into and out of engagement with the notches of the dies without the need of springing tools, as heretofore required, thereby eliminating distortion of the spring finger, which would commonly result when the finger was sprung with a tool.

By the positive locking means, the uniform engagement of the spring finger with all of the dies is assured, thereby providing for alignment and locking of the dies in the holder.

Although one embodiment of the invention has been herein illustrated and described, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made in the details of construction without departing from the principles herein set forth.

I claim:

1. In a die holder for removable dies, 9. spring strap for locking the dies in said holder, a spring bolt on which said strap is mounted, a ring nut having threaded portions interacting with threads on said bolt and holder, said nut having a counterbore and a coil spring disposed therein, whereby upon rotation of the nut to compress the spring the bolt will be initially relieved of spring tension to release the spring strap and upon further movement bodily move the strap out of contact with the dies, and upon rotation of the nut in the opposite direction move the strap into locking engagement with the dies.

2. In a die holder for removing dies, a vertical slot for receiving a plurality of dies, a transverse slot communicating with said first named slot, a bolt extending through a counterbored opening of said holder, a spring strap mounted on one end of said bolt having a finger disposed in said transverse slot, a ring nut engaging a 10 threaded end of the bolt and a threaded surface of the counterbore in said holder, and a coil spring disposed around said bolt and abutting the end of the counterbore and said ring nut whereby rotation of the nut in one direction will release tension on said strap spring and positively move the finger out of the die slot, and rotation in the opposite direction will positively lock the finger with the dies in the holder.

RAYMOND G. RAHE. 

